[Any LDS homeschoolers?]

Roll call...

We are too (actually four).

[Best flash cards - which ones to buy for...]

We have a set of cards from National Geographic on places. I never thought to use them as flash cards per se... I usually hand them over and tell the kids to organize them into groups. Younger kids will organize buildings vs. parks vs. natural landforms. Older children will organize by country, or some obscure detail they've found. They've been a fun, supplemental thing here, more than a practice tool.

 

We are die hard Saxon math flashcard people...

 

You can purchase sets of foreign words (Spanish, French, etc.) from the same company that makes those put together words from a box called "Poetry Magnets". The language ones have a white word on black in the foreign language and a black word on white on the other side, in English. They aren't flashcards, but get the child working on organizing words.

 

For flags, we ended up with a couple freebie sets of world flags stickers. We stuck them onto a big world map that came along with a National Geographic magazine.

[Do I really need a Bible curriculum?]

Oooh, oooh, oooh! The Victor Journey Through the Bible! Yes:) do this one before The Message.

[Do I really need a Bible curriculum?]

I do not think you need a curriculum, and think that if you feel inspired to go with the Good Book, then that is where you should start. It can be used for spelling, memorization, teaching poetry (Psalms), history (esp. OT), geography, and other areas.

 

If you are interested in reading an easier version, try reading THE MESSAGE with your children. You can find it virtually everywhere - Target, Wal*mart, book stores...

[Calling All Pyramid Builders! (SOTW)]

Modge Podge (or whatever it is) and fine sand rather than gritty chunky play sand.

[old]

Huggers!

 

I don't have an answer for you or your family - but hope it comes soon. I guess the advice is to go with your instinct and quit:) If your children are committed to homeschooling and staying home, as mine were, you could try "vacationing". Here is what we did:

 

I had M.A.J.O.R. burnout last spring (completed our 6th year). I waver every October and May, but last year, I actually "quit" the year in March and just read. We read, and read, and read together. I quit "teaching" and read all the books on my "list" of read-alouds to do with the kids.

 

During this time we made a list of things to do together. I struggled with a few of their ideas, but did them anyway (go to the music store and try out different instruments; go to the science center to visit the paper airplane making room...again, and again; hike...ugh...and so on). We "did" that list, and found that even if we weren't interested in an activity chosen by another family member, each found a way to make it fun in the end.

 

I had the kids make lists of questions they wanted answered. Most of those questions were pretty darn hard to just answer off the cuff! What an insight too, into their minds!

 

I cut out TV, computer and random background music listening during our regular afterschool down times. We checked out N'Geo videos from the library, and books on tape for the car. We took advantage of being outside as much as possible. In doing so, the kids filled the time with so many interesting things - I was amazed.

 

I must admit that I did spend two full summer months OFF. No more read alouds, I found a hobby for myself, and let the kids run crazy wild going to summer camps and workshops. We each followed our own interests - and now have come back full circle, committed to working together again.

 

Then again, I'll let you know how I'm feeling in October...

Hope things settle soon!

[Spelling and Latin]

Have you tried to teach within word families? For early spellers, working within a set of rhyming words builds confidence in that the child can easily progress from three letter words to five + letter words in one lesson:

 

bat

cat

fat

hat

mat

pat...

 

brat

chat

frat

that

match

patch...

 

brats

chats

matches

patches...

 

You can find word family worksheets online, and books from a local teaching store. AVKO is a program that uses word families to teach spelling 1 - 8 grades (pricey, but if it works, use it). I ended going to AVKO for two years after I found spelling success with a simple word family book from a local teaching store. We were able to slip back into Spelling Workout with ease and complete two of their books in one year.

 

Hope this helps!

[Can you recommend a really good atlas?]

National Geographic (contains the basic political and physical maps as well as many others including demographics, climate, manufacturing, and so on).

 

We also purchased a HUGE (24" x 18") atlas at our local Costco for a rock bottom price of $10. It is highly detailed but the kids prefer the NG version as it is easier to handle.

[Any Apple computer users here?]

We have iWork and iLife. It includes a wordprocessing, spreadsheet, powerpoint and a few other neat add ons. You can save, forward, share all your work as an MS or Adobe doc/file.

 

iLife is just neat. You can do EVERYTHING, make a web page, compose music, make podcasts, save and edit photos and movies, and mash them all together in new unique formats. Everything syncs.

 

After that, you know you WILL just have to get the iPhone, iPod, AirPort...

[suggestions for favorite ancient history encyclopedia (other than KF) for 5th/7th?]

Erm...honestly? Wikipedia, backed up by more formaly referencedl internet sources. My kids get "lost" (inn a good way) linking through all the sublinks on Wikipedia as they learn about the topic du jour.

[Would you let your child take an elective class at a public school?]

Go for it! In a way, by participating in dual enrollment, you are setting an example of how good an open educational system, where students can participate by need or interest, can be beneficial for all.

[DD/12 doesn't know parts of speech...how do I help her?]

Suggestion:

 

Give her sixteen index cards. Tape them, accordian style, into two sets, each with eight cards. choose one of the groups. Have her title each card with one of the eight parts of speech, fill in a definition, then fill in common examples on each card for each part.

 

The second set will have the same titles and definitions for each part of speech, but will be used to write down exceptions (e.g., in can be a preposition, adverb or adjective; affect can be a noun or verb, and so on).

 

Rather than R&S, your 7th grader may benefit from dropping down to level 5, and/or by reading short portions of Grammar Girls book, Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing as well as just going through portions of Strunk and White or Harvey's Grammar before tackling R&S 7 which has a lot of grammar AND writing. Long sentence... I'm still learning too!

[Will you please look at my layout for Grade 6 & 8]

I am going to print off your post to show my 6th grade daughter! It is so close to the schedule we came up:) So, I'm partial, I think your schedule is GREAT!

 

So you have another reference:

 

Language Arts:

Spelling Workout G & H

R & S 6

Italian (taking a break from Latin)

Finish reading all the known works of Shakespeare

 

Math:

Life of Fred Fractions (review)

Life of Fred Percents

A geometry book from a local teaching store (she enjoys geometry).

Logic - undecided (but will look into your resources)

 

History:

SOTW 2 Middle Ages

FMot Middle Ages

Timelining

Writing (using TOG resources)

 

Geography:

Two rigorous workbooks purchased at a teaching store (dd is already challenging us by asking what animals live at 90 degrees S, and what country is at such and such long/lat - it's fun to see it all "unlock")

 

Science:

Apologia General

Newton at the Center (Joy Hakim - also correlates with SOTW 2)

 

Extracurriculars:

Art class

Piano

Activity Days (youth group for girls)

Drama Group

[I have a small problem & need some advice]

Reply from a night owl (not by choice - I should post for sleeping advice)...

 

Sorry to hear of your difficulty with your local support group. An article that may help them see what they are doing is THE INNER RING by CS Lewis. Here is the link:

 

http://www.geocities.com/bigcslewisfan/

 

Here is a synopsis:

Lewis admonishes each of us of the dangers of inner rings - groups that make members, or members to be jump through hoops and rings to join. These groups are only interested in followers (CS Lewis infers that these groups mimic Satan's attempt to get people to follow his way).

 

The better way to approach rings is to view them as Aristotle did - friendships with common ideas/factors where people WANT to gravitate to you/your group. These groups help people become leaders (CS Lewis infers that these groups mimic Christ's living ministry on earth - collecting people that want to be a part of His work, and yet allowing them to progress/fulfill roles in current and future leadership positions themselves).

 

Inner rings are off the straight and narrow path that we are to try to follow in life. The beginning of the path is birth; the end of the path is death. What is before and after is up to personal beliefs. As we are on that straight path (think of a straight line to represent your life), we dip into side groups for learning, friendships and fun. If we can always see the path that we are to be on as we dip into these circles, we are in the right group. If however, we get caught into a ring/group, and view ourselves as elitist and mutually exclusive - we defeat the purpose of joining that ring/group.

 

Lewis wrote the article in an attempt to speak about Hitler's movement - much as Picasso painted Guirneca as an attempt to educate others of an evil, experimental event that happened in his native country, Spain. Hitler had inner rings - with himself at the center. If you could prove your loyalty to him and his movement - you would move a bit closer to the inner ring.

 

I honestly do not see a need for anyone to prove their loyalty to any one group or person for anything these days. Study up on Aristotle's views of friendship. You'll see the world in brighter light. Good luck!

[SOTW and Art History - correlating ??]

We used Gardner's Art Through the Ages as we went through SOTW. You can read from both (although Gardner's is not as engaging to a 1st grader). We also used the interet to look up pictures that didn't show well in Gardner's. Don't forget that art also includes architecture, the decorative arts (furniture, rugs, etc.), sculpture, and practical handicrafts.

[What do you want in a science curriculum?]

I'd like to see the following:

 

-science history (sort of like what Joy Hakim wrote) with modern day applications

 

-videos online showing the experiments so we don't have to hunt through YouTube for them

 

-interviews with scientists at work

 

-an outline on how to set up a co-op group with the program

[Diagramming sentences? Why?]

It's like Sudoku...only it is logic with words. You'll gain better respect from your kids if you approach it as a game (much like spelling books have crosswords and word searches to reinforce the learning). Teaching stores will carry diagramming books - bring one home and treat it as a game.

[Does this curriculum exist???]

These take a similar approach to what you are looking into building:

 

Ambleside/CM

Kindred Learning

Konos

 

I like this approach, and picked up on the concept as I read WTM and learned more about CM and living history books. We use the WTM format and read tons of CM and other living history books in each era, for each subject. I'd LOVE for it to all be in one place!!! My best to you for your research and writing!

[I feel like chucking the whole thing and just ordering dvd school...]

There are pros and cons to whatever is chosen. The longer I homeschool, the more I realize that there are MANY, MANY options that are better than, or equal to or can greatly enhance the path we originally chose (WTM). I'm open to almost every option these days;)

 

Here are some pros about dvd/click schooling with those school at home options that are well known (BJU, Calvert, ABeka, K12, etc.):

 

-The "major" areas will be covered in each subject.

 

-Because the "major" areas are covered, you'll be able to be in a facilitator role more than a teacher role.

 

-Most states provide some sort of online learning under a charter school umbrella making the curriculum "free" (they get $ for every enrollment in the program).

 

-You don't have to take ALL of your classes online - you can take the hard core basics (LA, foreign language and math), leaving history and science for fun; or you can take history or science online if you feel the immense pressure to pull everything together for these vast subjects (you may already know that these tend to be subjects your child can pull you into different directions with their interests and if you are like me and indulging - well, you can get lost along "their" way with what you want to accomplish for the year).

 

-As a facilitator, you can bring the fun into the education by finding new interesting projects to support online learning, books that you can read together (and actually have time to read together that is enjoyable and not for "school").

 

-You will have time research and plan out extracurricular classes that cater to each child's talents AND be able to bring a laptop along for the other child(ren) to continue working (you can do this with books too, of course). but what I'm trying to say is that if you have a child with a particular talent - you can put all of your effort into things for that talent and feel assured that school was covered.

 

HTHs!

[Help with dinner please - allergies!]

Sounds like it could also be colon related...ewe, the scraping of roughage on tender intestines! Poor thing, whatever it is.

 

I love the roast chicken and vegetable idea. Just be careful not to add spices that are "seeds" such as celery seed or rosemary. They can get caught in pockets in the digestive track and turn into nasty (life threatening) infections as they rot (they don't move through normally).

 

You could also do a Panini sandwich platter. Everyone could choose their fixings (shredded chicken, mini meatballs in a sauce, sauteed vegetables, and fixings for the other people - cheese, pickles, etc). After the sandwich is assembled, you could individually grill them.

[Would you want the money or not?]

I would have weighed this one...as we humans do in our own ways...

 

If taking care of the pet gave me something to look forward to each day, and if I genuinely cared for it (having feelings for the lil' thing) - I would have declined the money and lived off the intrinsic reward.

 

If I begrudgingly took on the task, and added up all the time it took me away from other things - I would have been more inclined to take the extrinsic reward in exchange for my "effort". (in real life, I would have declined the money)

 

When the details are not worked out ahead of time, and if task was not as enjoyable as you thought it would be, it is better to be gracious, and let your internal feelings stay, internal. You can decline taking care of the pet should another request come along in the future.

[True Confessions #2: How many of you still crank up the radio in the car?]

Ab-so-lutley! I did it on the way home from Target last night:) Especially loudly cranked in the ol' car would be loads of the 80s stuff...Cure, Ramones, REM, Robert Palmer, Police, B52s, Elvis Costello, Prince, JC Mellencamp, Duran Duran,...as well as some early Guns N Roses, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam...

 

Whoa. Thanks for the trip down memory lane there...

 

Two side notes:

DD11 asked me the other day, "How do you do that?" after I was able to sing along to two "new" songs on her iTunes made CD. (they were ABBA songs...gearing up for Mamma Mia!). I sooo wanted to put on a sly smile and lie...but I talked to her about the beauty of remakes.

 

DS8 asked me to download "Sweet Cherry Pie" so he could do his own version of breakdancing to it. I did the download - then sang along, not realizing that the one he was familiar with was the Guitar Hero cleaned up version. Whoops! I corrected that one real quick.

[What horse-books do you recommend for my horse-crazy 8yo?]

Little Britches!!!

by Ralph Moody

 

(I should have put the author on the post above!)

 

Possibly books about mythical horses? Pegasus?

[What horse-books do you recommend for my horse-crazy 8yo?]

Little Britches!!!!!

[how to organize school work for child]

I'm a calendar, and lesson planner gal all around. Once I have the year outlined I check in with the planner once a week or two to make sure we are on track. If I did not have that planner, I thought about what I might do...

 

I'd probably get the kind of blank calendar that has sticky notes. I'd write a different colored sticky note for the daily work goals for each child and post it on the board. They could grab the sticky and complete what is on it, or post it to the next day to finish up what was not completed.

 

For an older child, I'd post one sticky, with a full week of work. That child could make their own stickies for each day of the week, and decide how and when the work will be completed.

 

Good luck!

I'm reading on for creative ideas on this one:)